The Hill, the Mist and the Leaf Monkeys...

Penang Hill have always been close to my heart, ever since I first set foot on this hill station when I was about four or five years old. I remember enjoying the photo sessions by my dad with my mum and my brother at Bellevue Hotel, and loving the cool crisp air and the lovely flowers in the garden. On the other hand I also demonstrated this irrational fear of the misty and cold Summit Road during that first trip; maybe it was because at that age, I perceived that the foggy and misty road were swallowing up people who walked into it and cried when my parents wanted to take us for a walk along Summit Road.

 

Since then the love for the hill has grown  tremendously with the numerous hiking trips up the hill done with family or friends. Each and every hike to me is like an adventure with a whole new world opening up to you if you keep your eyes, nose and ears peeled, especially for someone who loves plants and birds.

Of late, I haven't had the opportunity to go up Penang Hill ever since the pandemic, until today. Despite not hiking but joining the weekend crowd on the funicular railway, it was indeed an eye-opening trip for me to see how many things up there have changed since the pandemic.

 

The weather was good, and the rolling mist adds to the allure and charm of the hill station. What caught my eye was at the abandoned quarters on the old Waterfall Road. The back end of the dilapidated quarters have now become the playground for a group of dusky leaf monkeys (Trachypithecus obscurus). I guess when humans move out, nature takes back.

 

One of the dusky leaf monkeys playing at the back of the abandoned quarters along the old
Waterfall Road.

I then went to the clearing by the abandoned Convalescent bungalow to enjoy the 'mossy forest' feel of Penang Hill. That area and the adjacent area now occupied by the Habitat used to be my favourite hang-out area when I am up there, just to get some peace of mind.

 

 

For me, the hill has changed a lot since my childhood, but I guess everything keeps evolving and moving forward, and all we can do is reminisce the past and enjoy the present!

 

Dumbells anyone???

Bypath C - love the mist.

A little repair is needed :-)

All in a day's work...

And So It Begins... Raising the Lantern Pole for Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022

The lantern pole has been successfully raised at Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Temple today at midday. With that it marks the start of the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 at Ampang.

Tonight the Nine Emperor Gods invitation procession will depart at 7.15pm. As usual the lion and dragon dances will commence earlier.

Ampang Is All Set For Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022

After what seemed like weeks of never ending clean-ups and touch-ups, Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple is on the final leg to being ready for this year's Nine Emperor Gods festival.

 

Not surprising as this would be the first time after a two-year hiatus that the festival would be celebrated in a grand scale post COVID pandemic. Hence the temple management and team had spared no effort in ensuring that this year's festival will be smooth sailing and as grand as possible.

It must be exhausting as well as exhilarating for the people involved, for what needs to be dusted was dusted, and what needs to be painted had been painted. In past two weeks, the temple became a gathering space for familiar faces coming together for this festival, very much like a big family reunion.

 

So in this post, the pictures are dedicated to the familiar faces and familiar sights that herald the start of the festival at Ampang Nan Tian Gong Nine Emperor Gods Temple (安邦南天宫). And as tomorrow is the eve of the festival, we will eagerly await the raising of the lantern pole and the invitation of the Nine Emperor Gods.

As a reminder, the schedule for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival at Ampang reverts to what it was before the pandemic, with the only exception being that the dormitories are not open this year. The rest of the activities are as before as listed below (times are approximates and invitation ceremonies usually start earlier than when the entourage leaves the temple):

Important Dates for Ampang Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022

25th Sept (Eve of the Festival)  : Raising the Lantern Pole  ( ~ 11am)

                                                    : Invitation of Nine Emperor Gods (starts ~ 5pm)

27th Sept (Day 2): Invitation of Finance Minister (starts ~ 5pm)

28th Sept (Day 3): Feeding the Heavenly Armies ( ~ 2pm)

1st Oct (Day 6)    : Feeding the Heavenly Armies ( ~ 2pm)

3rd Oct (Day 8)   : Bridge Crossing ( ~ 8pm)

4th Oct (Day 9)   : Feeding the Heavenly Armies ( ~ 2pm)

                             : Fire Crossing ( ~ 8pm)                          

Early hours of the 10th day - Sending off Nine Emperor Gods

5th Oct (Day 10) : Taking down the Lantern Pole ( ~ 10am)

 

Yellow Lanterns and Yellow Curtains... 3 More Days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022

As the festival draws near (just 3 more days), one cannot help but noticing that there are two main colours that dominates the temple grounds and the vicinity of Nine Emperor Gods temples - yellow and red.

 

Yellow being the colour of the Emperor takes centre stage for now, whilst red being an auspicious colour is still present, but becomes secondary during this festival.

Yellow lanterns for Nine Emperor Gods Festival, as yellow is a royal colour befitting an Emperor.

Yellow lanterns, yellow curtains, yellow flags and yellow talismans... all that signify the coming of the Nine Emperor Gods. Here we take a peek at Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods temple and one can feel the power of yellow and how it signifies the Emperor Gods are coming...

Yellow curtains drawn over the inner chamber of the Jinjang Nine Emperor Gods temple for the
festival. The curtains keeps the Nine Emperor Gods from being sighted by all and sundry.

Red altar plaque against the yellow curtains of the inner chamber.

Yellow Nine Emperor Gods Festival flag at Jinjang.

Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 Countdown - 5 More Days

5 more days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022...

 

In Ampang, the anticipation for the festival is building up, as many are looking forward to the festival after a two-year hiatus.

Countdown to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 - 10 More Days

It's just 10 more days to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022...

 

This year the festivals starts on the 26th of September and ends on the 4th of October. Of course the invitation ceremony would happen on the eve of the festival. At Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple, the 3rd, 6th and 9th day are also Feeding the Heavenly Army days (犒军).

 

Important dates:

Eve of Festival - 25th Sept 2022

Day 1 - 26th Sept 2022

Day 3 - 28th Sept 2022

Day 6 - 1st Oct 2022

Day 9 - 4th Oct 2022

Countdown to Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 - 14 more days

Yes! It is that time of the year... as the Nine Emperor Gods Festival approaches, the countdown to the festival begins!

This year will see most places having the festival back to usual as in the pre-COVID days. For Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple, this year we will see the return of the stalls, the invitation procession, the fire walking etc. just like in pre-COVID times, with the exception that the dormitories are not open to devotees.

For the countdown series, I will mostly post photos of the Ampang Nine Emperor Gods temple in the pre-festival and preparatory stages as they prepare for the festival this year. The images will be in a myriad of colours, tonality, with some dark and some bright, some dull and some vividly coloured; so as to depict the broad range of visual stimuli that hits you when you participate in the festival.

So let the Nine Emperor Gods Festival 2022 countdown begin... 14 more days to the 2022 Nine Emperor Gods Festival!

Happy Mooncake Festival 2022

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming (this year it falls on 10th Sept 2022) and hence it is time to wish Happy Mooncake Festival to all my readers and friends. I must admit I have been a little lazy to update post in here, preferring to post more in the Facebook page of this blog or in Instagram lately. 

 

Still, to keep the posting tradition going for Mid-Autumn Festival (for the past two years, I have been highlighting a different style of mooncake for each year), this year I am sharing Shanghai style mooncakes.

 

The distinctive style of Shanghai mooncakes lies in the skin, which is made of shortcrust pastry (the crumbly rich type very similar to pineapple tart pastry) and brushed with egg glaze and baked. The mooncakes can be shaped like small circular balls, or comes in a longer sausage-roll like shape.

 

So wishing all a great Mid-Autumn Festival and enjoy your mooncakes and lanterns.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidifitri 2022

Wishing all those who celebrate Eid a Blessed and Happy Eid-ul-Fitri!

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri, maaf zahir dan batin.

Bringing Iron Rod Puppets to Life - Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Opera

In Penang, the Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Troupe (金玉楼春潮州木偶剧团) needs no introduction here in their hometown as they are one of the groups that are actively promoting and keeping the tradition of Teochew iron-rod puppet opera alive. Whilst they have performed in numerous shows organised by various government agencies and NGOs in the promotion of local intangible cultural heritage, I still enjoy their performances more when it is performed in a more traditional setting viz. in temple celebrations.

Such shows that usually performed in conjunction with a deity's birthday are called 酬神戏 (chóu shén xì) in Chinese and literally means Rewarding the Gods performance. There is this feel of the 'realness' in the show when they perform on the temple opera stage, with all the temple stuff around and not in a 'sanitised' set up. Plus if you block the intended audience of the show (the gods or spirits) when watching or shooting them, they would not be asking you to move aside, right?

I managed to catch Kim Giak Low Choon Teochew Puppet Troupe recently in such a setting during the Goddess of Mercy birthday celebration at Yuan Ying Gong (Hor Kai Kong) temple in Pulau Tikus, Penang. As always, their performances is joy to watch and shoot. The lack of audience during the performance there also meant that it was easy to maneuver around the front of the stage to capture the puppets and puppeteers in action.

Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha 2022 @ Penang

The Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha celebrated by the Sri Singamuga Kaliamman Temple in Teluk Bahang, Penang is one of the lesser known but truly unique festival celebrated here. This festival, which usually occurs at the end of February or early March every year, has been celebrated by this temple annually since the early 1900s.

So what is Masi Magam?

Masi Magam is a Hindu festivals popular with Tamils and is celebrated when the Moon is in the Magha/Magam nakshatra (star/asterism) during the Tamil month of Masi (Feb - March), hence the name Masi Magam. The Magha star is α-Leonis (Regulus) in the Western constellation of Leo and in Hindu astrology this star is associated with power and royalty.

On this auspicious day, it is said that prayers done is very efficacious in removing afflictions in life, particularly those associated with ancestors (pitru dhosa) as the Magha star is controlled by Ketu (lunar descending node) which governs past actions and ancestors.

Temples in Southern India (as well as Southern Indian temples of the Tamil diaspora like in Malaysia) will usually hold temple festivals i.e. Thiruvizha on this day where the temple idols will be paraded out on temple chariots and taken for a ceremonial bath in a body of water (Theerthavari). Devotees will then take a dip in this body of water as it is believed to be blessed thus capable of relieving past afflictions and wash away bad karma.

So now we come to Theppa Thiruvizha... instead of parading the idols in chariots, the Sri Singamuga Kaliamman Temple in Penang does it by boat, hence it is called a Theppa (i.e. a float or decorated boat) Thiruvizha! This unique way of celebrating the festival here calls for a specially built, beautifully decorated and brightly lit boat that will carry the deity out to sea in the evening as the sun sets, with fireworks going off before she is given the ceremonial bath out at sea.

It is, I believe one of the only temple in Malaysia to carry out a Theppa Thiruvizha for Masi Magam. And to add to the stunningly lit float that stands out against the darkening evening sky, devotees also release floating lamps onto the water, and the sea in that area magically transforms into this mesmerizing sparkling sea of lights.

In the past, this festival at Teluk Bahang Penang usually attracts up to 40k devotees and tonnes of photographers all wanting to participate and catch a glimpse of this amazing event. However, the number of participants are very much less this year, and there wasn't much of a crowd at all since we are still in the pandemic. In fact you could even count the number of photographers present with both hands!

2022 actually marks the 115th year that the temple has carried out the celebration in this unique fashion, and despite the various restrictions presented by the Covid-19 SOPs and the current Omicron wave, I must say they have managed to pull it off very well to keep this tradition alive.

So next time you are in Penang around February - March, do check out the Masi Magam Theppa Thiruvizha here.

Li Chun 2022 - The Start of the Water Tiger Year

Li Chun (立春), which is one of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese calendar, is the day when the Sun enters 315^o longitude and marks the Beginning of Spring in the traditional Chinese calendar.

Furthermore it is also the beginning of the new Chinese horoscope year (which is the 壬寅 - Water Tiger this year) and not on the date of the Lunar New Year as many people think it is.

Li Chun usually falls on the 3rd or 4th of February in the Gregorian calendar, and whilst it can occur, it is a rare occurrence for the Lunar New Year date to coincide on the same day with Li Chun (e.g. in 2038, and 2087 the Lunar New Year date coincides with Li Chun for that year). So the Ren Yin (壬寅) Water Tiger year of 2022 actually starts today at 4.50am.

Egg Balancing on Li Chun: There is a myth that eggs can be easily balanced on the broad end on this day due to electromagnetic forces etc. coming together on this particular day. In reality it is just a myth and it has been studied that eggs can be balanced on the broader end on any day of the year. All you need to do is to make the shell have at least three contact points with a flat surface (due to the imperfections present on the shell) whilst keeping the centre of mass of the egg within the area that is defined by those three points.

 

Wishing all a Happy Water Tiger Year 2022!

Happy Lunar New Year 2022 - Wishing All A Roaring Tiger Year

Tomorrow is the Lunar New Year (Feb 1st) and whilst it may be Chinese New Year to some and Tet Nguyen Dan to others, the coming lunar year is the Year of the Tiger.

Technically for the Chinese calendar, it isn't the Year of the Water Tiger (壬寅) as yet as the year actually changes on the solar calendar term Li Chun (立春 - Beginning of Spring) which falls on February 4th. However most people are unaware of it and would consider the lunar new year date as the start of the Tiger year.

So here's to the tail end of the Cow year and wishing all a good head start for the Tiger Year...

新年快乐, 瑞虎丰年!

Thaipusam 2022 - Another year of the festival under the pandemic and the pandemonium of SOPs

Amidst the last minute announcement of new SOPs by the government for the festival, which threw confusion and chaos amongst devotees as to what is allowed for the festival, Thaipusam 2022 kick-started in Kuala Lumpur last night with the silver chariot carrying the image of Lord Murugan and his consorts leaving the Sri Maha Mariammam temple in town for Batu Caves at around 10pm.

Whilst the crowd was less at the temple compared to pre-Covid times, it was still a sizeable crowd as many thronged to witness the event personally after being unable to do so last year. With restricted stoppages and less devotees offering archanais along the way, the chariot reached its destination in the wee hours of the morning today on 17 January.

Thaipusam falls on the 18th of January, and due to the last minute announcement of the rules by the government, there will be no kavadi carrying allowed at temples in Malaysia this year. However milk pots are allowed and hence it is expected the festival will be a little toned-down as compared to before the pandemic.

Happy Thaipusam 2022 to all!

Happy Thai Pongal 2022

Pongal or Thai Pongal, is a Tamil festival that is celebrated in the month of Thai and usually falls on January 14 (January 15 on leap years). Despite being lesser known and is often overshadowed by Thaipusam that occurs several days later, nevertheless it is an important festival to the Tamils as it celebrates Uttarayan, or the movement of the sun shifting back north after the end of its southward journey into the Tropic of Capricorn, thus marking the end of winter. Now you will say, hey this sounds like the Winter Solstice in December that is celebrated in many cultures, but why is it in January and not in December?

 

The pot of milk, rice and jaggery that is being boiled overflowing and accompanied by shouts
of Pongalo Pongal during Thai Pongal festival.

Well you are right, it is the Tamil/Hindu equivalent of the Northern hemisphere Winter Solstice but the reason for the date discrepancy is because Tamil/Hindu calendar and astrology are based on sidereal precession instead of tropical precession like the Western and Chinese calendar/astrology. Due to the precession of the Earth on its axis, the date when the Sun enters Tropic of Capricorn is seen by us today to be happening in Dec (usually Dec 21) instead of January. In 26000 years time from the start of the Tamil/Hindu sidereal calendar, then Winter Solstice will coincide with Thai Pongal again in January as the Earth makes a complete cycle wobbling on its axis.

This festival is also celebrated in the northern parts of India as Makar Sankrati, in West Bengal as Poush Sankrati or Maghe Sankrati in Nepal; and as well as wherever the Indian diaspora can be found. In Malaysia, where the local Indian communities whom are mostly Tamils, celebrate Thai Pongal with great fervour despite it being not a public holiday.

The day before Pongal is called Bhogi Pandigal (Bhogi or Pogi in short), and it is a day to get rid of old stuff and set it on fire, symbolically getting rid of the old and starting anew. On the day of Pongal, Tamil families would first set up a tripod of three sugarcane sticks, and beneath it a new, colourful earthenware pot (pongapani) wrapped with a stalk of turmeric plant (leaves, stem and a bit of the root; some people wrap it when the cooking is almost done as to prevent it from being completely burnt), is used to boil rice with jaggery and milk, then topped with spices, nuts and dried fruits (eg. cardamom, cinnamon, cashews and raisins) and are allowed to boil over and the liquid bubble out of the pot.

Setting up the pot for cooking.

Adding rice to the mixture.

Pongalo pongal!

When that happens it is customary to shout Pongalo Pongal to usher in auspiciousness for the new year. Once the cooking is done, the resulting sweet rice dish (called sakkarai pongal - literally sweet pongal) is then offered as prasadam to the Sun God (Surya) and other deities first and later consumed by family members.